difference between alicyclic and aromatic ?

what is the difference:

alicyclic are joined to each other in a ring structure, aromatic is when some or all of the carbon atoms are found in a benzene ring.

so what is the real difference?

are aromatic hydrocarbons just alicyclic but with double bonds? and does this make them a sub-group of alicyclic hydrocarbons or is it a separate thing like aliphatic is?

and if the underlined bit is true, does that mean all alicyclic hydrocarbons with 3 double bonds are automatically aromatic?



side question: are the 3 double bonds the max amount of double bonds a carbon ring structure can have?

what is the difference:

alicyclic are joined to each other in a ring structure, aromatic is when some or all of the carbon atoms are found in a benzene ring.

so what is the real difference?

are aromatic hydrocarbons just alicyclic but with double bonds? and does this make them a sub-group of alicyclic hydrocarbons or is it a separate thing like aliphatic is?

and if the underlined bit is true, does that mean all alicyclic hydrocarbons with 3 double bonds are automatically aromatic?



side question: are the 3 double bonds the max amount of double bonds a carbon ring structure can have?

what is the difference:

alicyclic are joined to each other in a ring structure, aromatic is when some or all of the carbon atoms are found in a benzene ring.

so what is the real difference?

are aromatic hydrocarbons just alicyclic but with double bonds? and does this make them a sub-group of alicyclic hydrocarbons or is it a separate thing like aliphatic is?

and if the underlined bit is true, does that mean all alicyclic hydrocarbons with 3 double bonds are automatically aromatic?



side question: are the 3 double bonds the max amount of double bonds a carbon ring structure can have?

For anything A level I'm the worst person to ask, but i doubt at any point we wuld have to worry about such differentiation much at Uni, more recognising what you've got and the understanding of what you do with them.

But general advise for university.Remember that all of these diagrams are all incorrect and pure fantasy. The mechanisms, positions of the 'eletcrons' just what is going on? We can only geuss.

My freind made the jump to biochem and the quantum chemistry and MO stuffjust messed with him a bit, becasue lewis diagrams, bond type and a particle like electron were so ingrained into his brain he couldn't let it go.

Have the mindset, different theory, diffferent application and move on.

Oh, you will.

Ok then I will, take note of what this man says.

If you want to see a different method of finding if a compound is aromatic, Frost Circles are pretty cool (and give a bit more rationale behind the stability of aromatic and instability of anitaromatics -which it turns out are diradicals-).

http://www.chemgapedia.de/vsengine/vlu/vsc/en/ch/12/oc/vlu_organik/aromaten/aromaten/aromaten_gesamt.vlu/Page/vsc/en/ch/12/oc/aromaten/aromaten/frost/frost.vscml.html

To be aromatic, a compound must satisfy three conditions:

-There must be a delocalised π-system containing $4n+2;\: n \in \mathbb{N}$ electrons (i.e. alternating double and single bonds).
-All electrons which contribute to the π-system must be in the same plane (i.e. no puckered rings).
-Contributing electrons must be arranged in at least one ring.

Structures such as benzene:

Clearly obey these conditions.

Yes, you can have a cycle with more double bonds, such as cyclooctatetraene:

However, this does not meet the requirements for aromaticity due to it's 8 electrons in a π-system. We actually call compounds with $4n;\: n \in \mathbb{N}$ electrons (along with the other aromaticity requirements) antiaromatic. Antiaromatic structures are incredibly unstable, meaning compounds such as cyclooctatetraene pucker out of the plane to avoid this:




The structure with double bonds is almost always more useful.



Not necessarily, they just don't form an aromatic system.

They were asking a question which cannot be explained using A Level knowledge.

However much of your answer was wrong, even in an A Level context.

They can't tell you the difference without aromatic and aliphatic without actually saying what an aromatic compound is. Therefore you don't know the difference.

Aliphatic compounds can have delocalised electrons too. That's not what makes an aromatic compound.

When I did A levels, my teacher taught us the proper characteristics of aromatics so it's hardly like "oh but it's at university" means an A level student can't appreciate and understand the complex.

They can't tell you the difference without aromatic and aliphatic without actually saying what an aromatic compound is. Therefore you don't know the difference.

@alow @AngryRedhead guys you're confusing me sm lol

Erm...actually, conjugated compounds are not aromatic yet are definitely more stable than a molecule without conjugation or an alicylic compound due to their delocalised electrons (which don't actually extend to the whole molecule). So you're wrong.

Please don't argue about things you clearly have no clue about.